Rogers : May opening now planned for I-540 exit
Posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Construction restrictions have further delayed the northbound Interstate 540 off-ramp for Promenade Boulevard, officials said Tuesday.
The off-ramp probably won’t open until early May, said Steve Glass, Rogers director of transportation and planning. Original estimates had it finished by Thanksgiving.
M. J. Lee Construction Co. of Tulsa can’t lay thermal plastic striping — the white and yellow stripes on asphalt used as guides for cars — when it’s colder than 50 degrees, Glass said. And construction on the off-ramp that forces part of I-540 to close can be done only at night, according to the contract, he said.
The average night-time temperature in Benton County won’t reach 50 degrees until April 28, said Joe Sellers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa.
“You can’t open an on-ramp until you have striping on it. You’ve got a problem,” said Randy Ort, a spokesman with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
“We get ourselves into this sometimes,” he said.
Construction delays related to excavation and utility relocation have plagued the project since it began last June.
The contract calls for 225 “working days,” Ort said, but includes no formal completion dates. The project is 39 percent complete, he said.
Both Glass and Ort said M. J. Lee plans to ask the Highway Department to allow striping during the day. That would require closing one of the two northbound I-540 lanes during peak traffic hours, Glass said.
“I’d be surprised if the Highway Department lets them do that,” Glass said. “Given those two options, I don’t know what our preference would be.”
Todd Saxton, M. J. Lee’s vice president, didn’t return messages left at his office or on his cell phone Tuesday.
Ort said concrete barriers and other traffic control measures would be removed when the lane is shut down, regardless of whether that’s during the day or at night. He said he isn’t sure how long the lane would be closed.
M. J. Lee could use paint for striping as a temporary solution and open the ramp earlier, but the Highway Department wouldn’t reimburse the company for that expense because it’s not required in the contract, Ort said.
M. J. Lee would still need to lay the plastic striping, he said.
The entire $ 15. 8 million offramp project, which includes a southbound exit, is scheduled for completion by the middle of 2008. According to the contract with the state, M. J. Lee must finish the northbound exit first.
City officials have touted the project as necessary for the smooth flow of traffic throughout various developments in southwest Rogers, including the 980, 000-square-foot Pinnacle Hills Promenade.
The Pinnacle Group, which developed the outdoor mall, wants the work done during the day, said John George, marketing director of the development firm.
George said he will “ask for leniency” from the Highway Department. “It’s not our project, so all we can do is suggest and ask,” he said.
To contact this reporter: lboch@arkansasonline. com
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